Dr Liz Reed

Research Fellow

School of Physical Sciences

Faculty of Sciences

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD, but is currently at capacity - email supervisor to discuss availability.

I am a vertebrate palaeontologist specialising in Quaternary aged cave deposits, notably in the south east region of South Australia. My particular interests are vertebrate taphonomy and site history, Quaternary palaeoclimate and biodiversity records from caves and refining megafauna extinction records.

I am a Research Fellow within the School of Physical Sciences and a member of the Environment Institute. I am also an Honorary Research Associate with the South Australian Museum.

I completed an Honours degree in vertebrate palaeontology at Flinders University, studying how kangaroo skeletons decompose and disarticulate in a natural environment. I was awarded my PhD in 2004. My thesis research involved taphonomic (fossil forensics) studies of large mammal fossils from the Pleistocene-aged deposits within the World Heritage listed Naracoorte Caves National Park. Since then I have taught at undergraduate and graduate level and continue to study cave deposits in the South East region of South Australia.

My current research projects centre on Quaternary aged vertebrate fossil deposits from caves in the Naracoorte area of the Limestone Coast region of South Australia. In collaboration with colleagues from University of Adelaide's Environment Institute and various institutions in Australia and overseas, I am working on refining the age and palaeoenvironmental context of key deposits at Naracoorte.

Current projects -:

Refining the chronology and environmental context of megafauna extinctions at Naracoorte.

Palaeontology and taphonomy of Naracoorte fossil assemblages.

Investigation of cave deposits found in limestone quarries at Naracoorte.

Below - Digging for megafauna, Naracoorte Caves National Park. During the Pleistocene, megafauna and other animals fell into caves and became trapped with their remains accumulating in the cave below. Over time these remains were buried by sediments that washed or blew into the cave. Fossil bones are delicate, so we use small dental picks and brushes to expose the long buried fossils. The position of each bone is recorded in detail and samples of charcoal, bone, sediment and cave formations (speleothems) are used to determine the age of the deposits. Photo Steve Bourne.

Below - Peeling back the layers in time - Liz Reed excavating in Blanche Cave (Naracoorte Caves National Park), assisted by Cath Loder. The finely layered strata are visible in the sandy cave sediments. Each layer represents a period of time. Like chapters in a book each has a story to tell about the past animals and environment at Naracoorte. Photo Steve Bourne.

Below - One of the many exceptionally well preserved fossils from Naracoorte Caves. This is the skull of an extinct short-faced kangaroo. The fossil caves of the Naracoorte Caves National Park are deemed so signficant that they are World Heritage listed. Much of my research centres on these deposits. Photo Steve Bourne.

Below - A tiny fossil bat dentary from the late Pleistocene of Naracoorte. Bats have lived in caves at Naracoorte for hundreds of thousands of years. Their fossil remains accumulated from natural deaths beneath roosts in the caves. Other small vertebrates such as rodents and dasyurids fell victim to owl predation, forming large accumulations derived from owl pellets. Photo Liz Reed

Science communication and community service

March 2017 - Faculty of Science, University of Adelaide stand at South East Field Days, Lucindale SA. I ran a fossil sorting activity and provided information regarding courses.

Reed, E. (2017). Once more unto the deep: early history of Cathedral Cave, Naracoorte.. Journal of the Australasian Cave and Karst Management Association, 106, 9-14.

2016

Curry, M., Reed, E. H., & Bourne, S. (2016). Thylacoleo carnifex and the Naracoorte Caves. Australian Age of Dinosaurs: The annual publication of the Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History., (13), 40-51.

2016

Reed, E. (2016). The mystery photographer and the unknown engraving: new information on the first photographs of the Naracoorte Caves.. Journal of the Australasian Cave and Karst Management Association, 103, 5-10.

Reed, E. H. (2012). South Australia: Naracoorte Caves. In Australian Heritage Council (Ed.), Australia’s Fossil Heritage: a catalogue of important Australian fossil sites (pp. 69-70).

2012

Reed, E. H. (2012). South Australia: Naracoorte Caves. In Australian Heritage Council (Ed.), Australia’s Fossil Heritage: a catalogue of important Australian fossil sites (pp. 69-70).

2009

Reed, E. H. (2009). A vertebrate CSI. In South Australian Museum (Ed.), The Fossil Hunters (pp. 37-41). Adelaide: South Australian Museum.

2003

Reed, E. H., & Gillieson, D. (2003). Mud and bones: cave deposits and environmental history in Australia.. In B. Finlayson, & E. Hamilton-Smith (Eds.), Beneath the surface: a natural history of Australian Caves (pp. 89-110). Sydney: University of New South Wales Press.

Reed, E. H. (2017). Plenary: The Contribution of Cave Sites to the Understanding of Quaternary Australian Megafauna Records.. Poster session presented at the meeting of Proceedings of the 17th International Congress of Speleology (Ed. 2), July 23–29, Sydney, NSW Australia. Sydney: Australian Speleological Federation Inc. Sydney..

Reed, E. H. (2015). Priests, parties and palaeontologists: a potted history of the Naracoorte Caves.. Poster session presented at the meeting of Reflections: The 22nd State History Conference. Robe, South Australia.

2015

Reed, E. H. (2015). Site formation processes and their influence on chronological records from cave deposits: examples from Naracoorte Caves. Poster session presented at the meeting of 4th Asia Pacific Luminescence and Electron Spin Resonance Dating Conference. University of Adelaide.

Reed, E. H., Wells, R., Bourne, S., & Sellar, A. (2006). Discovering the history of life on Earth in South Australia. Poster session presented at the meeting of Alcheringa Special Issue 1. Naracoorte, SA.

2006

Reed, E. H., Wells, R., Bourne, S., & Sellar, A. (2006). Discovering the history of life on Earth in South Australia. Poster session presented at the meeting of Alcheringa Special Issue 1. Naracoorte, SA.

2006

Reed, E. H. (2006). A modern taphonomic analogue for Pleistocene pitfall cave deposits at Naracoorte, South Australia.. Poster session presented at the meeting of Alcheringa Special Issue 1. Naracoorte SA.

2006

Reed, E. H. (2006). A modern taphonomic analogue for Pleistocene pitfall cave deposits at Naracoorte, South Australia.. Poster session presented at the meeting of Alcheringa Special Issue 1. Naracoorte SA.

Reed, E. H. (1999). A taphonomic study of the disarticulation of macropodid skeletons in a semi-arid environment.. Poster session presented at the meeting of Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement No. 57 01/1999. Perth, Australia.